Culbert Report

Dan and I had the recent privilege of traveling to Boulder for my brother's wedding.  As you can imagine, there are always small things we look forward to doing/seeing/eating while we're home and I thought you'd all like to know what made this trip's top 10!  It goes without saying that time with friends and family, for such a joyful celebration, trumps any kind of list like this one.  We were so grateful for the chance to be home and to share in a day celebrating two of the funniest, well-suited, and wonderful people I know!  Congratulations, Andy and Karyn!  But now... without further ado...   10.  Mexican food is always a must when home in the States.  Hacienda Colorado, as well as Americanized giant burritos available at Q-doba and Chipotle, really hit the spot!  Viva la Mexican food! 9.  Chicken and a Biscuit by Chick-Fil-A is a little known delicacy.  They only serve it during their breakfast hours, but with a little honey on top, it tastes like one of the seven w...

Russians have special traditions involving the buying and giving of flowers for friends and loved-ones. Students and friends here have explained to me multiple times that you one can only purchase and present odd numbers of flowers on special occasions like birthdays and holidays. Even flower shop owners will refuse to sell you an even number of flower stems in a bouquet - it's a very exact and delicate science here.  Even though I'd heard explanations and reasons before, they remained very nebulous and obtuse to me.  "You just don't do it."     On Tuesday, the 30th of March, one day after the tragic metro explosions that shook the city, I finally grasped the full sense of those traditions.  As we boarded our metro wagon, I was alarmed to see passenger after passenger holding two flowers.  Young people had pairs of red carnations; older people had sets of two roses.  I have never in my experience in Russia thus far seen even numbers of flowers in the hands of Ru...

Yeah, it's happened again!

This year, Dan and I took part in our team's tradition of running the Garden Ring around Moscow's center the morning of the 1st.  It's one of the only times a year this run is possible - due to lessened air pollution, little traffic, and few pedestrians out on the streets.  It was entertaining to see so many Moscovites just concluding their New Year's Eve celebrations as we were just beginning our morning run - we were certainly a shock for many!  For those of you who'd like a closer look, here's a link to our run on mapmyrun.com:  http://www.mapmyride.com/view_route?r=294126251184364644 Now, for your viewing pleasure, some footage from the run.  This was just as we popped out of the metro to begin.  It was still fairly dark - the sun wouldn't really rise until closer to our ending time, but we were excited none the less! Our team consisted of two parts, the half-ringers and the full-ringers.  The half-ringers, already in full stride, Liz and Lola, show thei...

This year Dan and I celebrated Christmas for the first time by ourselves in Moscow.  We had a great holiday, a lot of presents, a lot of friends, and a lot of fun.  Here are a few highlights of the season. Our team hosted "An American Christmas" English club for over 30 students!  We had so much fun decorating cookies, singing Christmas carols, sharing Christmas memories, and creating some new ones!  We are so thankful for these new friends here in Moscow and for their joy in celebrating the holidays with us! We ventured to Red Square for a morning ice skating session.  You've already seen the evidence, but we're looking forward to trying this again, what great fun! We gathered as a team on Christmas Eve for carols and a Secret Santa gift exchange.  We had a lot of fun together.   Then it was off to downtown Moscow for a Christmas Eve service at the Anglican church and some Starbucks to warm us up afterwards.  I've decided it's officially better to visit Starb...

To those of you who thought our Christmas picture background a little "too good to be true," here's further proof of ice skating on Red Square.  This video is particularly dedicated to members of CU Intramural Hockey Team "Eh."  Miss you all, eh... please come visit and we'll shoot some more footage, eh! -rkc